Random visual patterns used to obtain secured access

Abstract

To improve authenticity of persons accessing secured locations, information, services, and/or goods, random pictures (images) and/or portions of picture are placed on a document (hard copy—e.g. a check—or computer generated). The person requiring access selects a set of one or more of the images/pictures, e.g. by crossing them out. Often the selected images/picture with be familiar to the user. The document is screened, e.g. by a special access server over a network, to check on whether the subset was correct, i.e., matches a subset of images previously stored and associated with the accessor. This can be combined with printed explicit textual questions related to an owner personal database and several possible answers for each question. For further security, biometrics, e.g. from user handwritten answer prompts, can be added. Similar security provision with random visual images can be used when users interact with computers to get access to some services (without providing hard copy documents).

We claim:  
     
         1 . A computer system comprising: 
 one or more central processing units (CPU), one or more memories, and one or more connections to a network;    a database stored on the memory that contains a plurality of sets of visual images, each set of visual images familiar to a user;    a process, executed by the CPU, that compares a selection of one or more selected image portions selected from an image having more than one image portion to the set of visual images familiar to the user and grants the user an access if one or more of the selected image portions matches one or more images in the set, the selected image portions being received over the connection.    
     
     
         2 . A system, as in    claim 1   , where the access can be any one or more of the following: an access to financial information, an access to a financial account, an access to a secured location, an access to a computer account.  
     
     
         3 . A system, as in    claim 1   , where the image portions are provided to the user by the computer system.  
     
     
         4 . A system, as in    claim 3   , where one or more image portions provided are random images.  
     
     
         5 . A system, as in    claim 4   , where the image portions include any one or more of the following: a person's image, a contour, a colorless contour, a picture of a place, a picture of an animal, a picture of professional tool, a picture of a recreational eqipment, a picture of a house, a picture of a building, a picture of a monument, a number that is related to the user, a composite of two or more images, a composite of two or more images that have an error, and an animation.  
     
     
         6 . A system, as in    claim 5   , where numbers that are relevant to the user include any one or more of the following: a user street address, a user phone number, age of a user family member, and numbers from user professional activities.  
     
     
         7 . A system, as in    claim 4   , where one or more of the image portions has an error.  
     
     
         8 . A system, as in    claim 7   , where the error includes one or more of the following: an error in color, an error in feature, and an error in position.  
     
     
         9 . A system, as in    claim 4   , where the user selects one or more of the following: the most familiar image portion and the least familiar image portion.  
     
     
         10 . A system, as in    claim 4   , where the user selects an image portion that is relevant to user personal items.  
     
     
         11 . A system, as in    claim 10   , where the user personal items include any one or more of the following: hobbies, professions, trips, music, books, movies, paintings, cooking.  
     
     
         12 . A system, as in    claim 10   , where image portions relevant to the user personal items include one or more of the following: authors of books, authors of movies, authors of music, characters of books, actors, authors of paintings, food, drinks, and features of paintings.  
     
     
         13 . A system, as in    claim 1   , where the selected image portion is selected by a marking pattern that is also received over the network connection and is required to match a stored marking pattern, stored in the database, before access is granted.  
     
     
         14 . A system, as in    claim 1   , where one or more biometrics are also received over the network connection and each biometric is required to match one or more stored biometrics, stored in the database, before access is granted.  
     
     
         15 . A system, as in    claim 14   , where the biometrics includes any one or more of the following: fingerprints, voice prints, a line crossing, a stressed mark, the following parameters of the crossing mark: height, width, and inclination.  
     
     
         16 . A system, as in    claim 1   , where the image is preprinted on a document.  
     
     
         17 . A system, as in    claim 16   , where the image, with the selected image portions is scanned to be sent over a network to the network connection.  
     
     
         18 . A system, as in    claim 1   , where the image sent through the network connection over a network to be printed on a document.  
     
     
         19 . A system, as in    claim 18   , where the image, with the selected image portions is scanned to be sent over a network to the network connection.  
     
     
         20 . A system, as in    claim 1   , where one or more of the sets of visual images in the database is periodically updated.  
     
     
         21 . A system, as in    claim 1   , where the image is a displayed image on one or more client computers connected to a network commonly connected to the network connection.  
     
     
         22 . A system, as in    claim 21   , where the selected image portions are sent back over a network to the network connection.  
     
     
         23 . A system, as in    claim 1   , where one or more answers to questions are also received over the network connection and each answer is required to match a stored answer, stored in the database, before access is granted.  
     
     
         24 . A system, as in    claim 1   , where a process produces visual images to be stored in the database.  
     
     
         25 . A system, as in    claim 24   , where visual images are familiar to the user and provided by the user.  
     
     
         26 . A system, as in    claim 25   , where pictures provided by the user contain any one or more of the following: images of the user family members, images of the user house, images of the user city places, familiar locations, images of places that the user visited, images of objects related to the user activities, and images of the user's animals.  
     
     
         27 . A system, as in    claim 24   , where visual images are not familiar to the user and are produced from sources that include: the Internet, books, cdroms, movies, and journals.  
     
     
         28 . A system, as in claim in  24 , where visual images are indexed with content labels describing their content.  
     
     
         29 . A system, as in    claim 28   , where content labels characterize any one or more of the following: information: faces, buildings, professional tools, recreational equipment, city places, relevant to the user profession, relevant to the user hobbies, relevant to the user taste, familiar to the user, unfamiliar to the user, very familiar to the user, less familiar to the user, combination of image portions, error in an image portion including an error in a color, and an error in a feature.  
     
     
         30 . A system, as in    claim 24   , where the database is updated periodically.  
     
     
         31 . A system, as in    claim 1   , where a process combines familiar and not familiar images to be displayed to the user.  
     
     
         32 . A system, as in    claim 31   , where errors are entered in images.  
     
     
         33 . A system, as in    claim 32   , where errors are any one or more of the following: errors in features, errors in colors, and errors in combinations.  
     
     
         34 . A system, as in    claim 1   , where the user is presented with visual images that are structured in accordance with security level.  
     
     
         35 . A system, as in    claim 34   , where security level is higher if the user presented with any one or more of the following: a larger number of random images, a larger number of selections, and a larger number of questions.  
     
     
         36 . A system, as in    claim 24   , where a process produces images with different security levels.  
     
     
         37 . A system, as in    claim 34   , where a security level involves random questions that are answered in handwriting.  
     
     
         38 . A system, as in    claim 37   , where biometrics from handwritings are used to verify a user identity.  
     
     
         39 . A system, as in    claim 1   , where one or more processes are performed by several CPU at client and servers computers.  
     
     
         40 . A system, as in    claim 39   , where a client is a computer that is accessed by a user, and other servers are one or more of the following: an agent server, an access server, that provides services.  
     
     
         41 . A system, as in    claim 39   , where one or more processes perform the following procedures on a client computer: reads a request from a user, allows to a user to prepare a security portion, and sends the user data to an agent server.  
     
     
         42 . A system, as in    claim 41   , where the agent server performs the following procedures: sends the user security portion to an access server, receives a rejection or acceptance from the access server, and sends to the user rejection or performs a service for the user on the service server.  
     
     
         43 . A system, as in    claim 42   , where the access server performs the following procedures: identifies images crossed by the user, compares images with references, read user answers to questions, compares user answers with references, identifies degree of familiarity of images to the user, read user biometrics data, compares user biometrics with prototypes, contact user database to perform comparing of images, answers, and biometrics, send a rejection or acceptance to the agent server.